<p> Name:______</p><p>Video Question – America: The Story of Us Episode 6: Heartland</p><p>Description: In 1869, the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of America, more than two thousand miles apart, are linked by continuous metal rails. The Transcontinental Railroad – the world’s first – is one of the most ambitious human enterprises since the Great Wall of Chin, and much of it was built by Chinese laborers who immigrate to the U.S. in search of work and the promise of prosperity. The railroad doesn’t just change the lives of Americans, it alters the entire ecology of the continent – and there are enormous casualties that result from this massive and transformative project. The vast Plains, where the buffalo and the Native Americans roam, become home to farmers who build houses of grass, and cowboys who trail their cattle thousands of miles to the railheads. Steel roads and now steel wire fences parcel up the Plains. In less than a quarter of a century, the West is won – by the railroad, the fence, and the plow.</p><p>Question: 1. Why do you think President Lincoln decided to support the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, a very expensive project, even though the Civil War was still going on?</p><p>2. What were some of the benefits of the Transcontinental Railroad? </p><p> a. What were the human costs of its construction? </p><p> b. What groups of people built the railroad?</p><p>3. The bison is described as a “mobile general store” for Native Americans on the plains. What does this phrase mean? </p><p> a. What were the consequences of the destruction of the bison population for Native Americans?</p><p>4. What happened at the Battle of Little Big Horn? </p><p> a. What was the outcome of conflicts between Native Americans and the U.S. military on the plains?</p><p>5. In 1886, Richard Sears established the first mail order catalog. Why do you think this development was a significant event in U.S. history?</p>